harrypotterbooksfandomcom-20200214-history
Wizarding world
The wizarding world was the society of wizardkind that they kept separate and in secret from the Muggle world following the International Statute of Secrecy. Each country had their own government and laws that adhere to the International Statute, and they had the intergovernmental organisation called the International Confederation of Wizards. Those who possess wizarding blood have a talent that will be refined through an education, and that wizarding blood was defined to be their blood status. It was a cause of prejudice because many of those who claimed to be pure-blood or even half-blood thought they were superior to Muggle-borns. Magic was used for every task from cooking, communication and medical treatment. Technologically they had the appearance of being less advanced and medieval, but their magic actually made the need for advanced Muggle technology useless. Society History In the fourteenth century, witches and wizards were hunted by Muggles because they were afraid of their power, but they weren't good at actually finding witches and wizards. In the rare event that they did, the witches and wizards performed a basic Flame-Freezing Charm and pretended to shriek in pain. Law and government Each country had a governing body, including the Ministry of Magic run by the Minister for Magic in Britain. The Wizengamot and Council of Magical Law determined the fate of criminals, and they could be sent to prison. Known wizarding prisons include Azkaban and Nurmengard. Each governing body had many departments that control and enforce the law, e.g. the Auror Office employed Aurors in the role of the police for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. The whole international wizarding world had to enforce the International Statute of Secrecy. Keeping that world a secret was a huge, co-operation effort. Laws involved keeping underage wizards from using magic prior to graduating and gaining a license, undoing any enchantment of Muggle objects and punishing wizards who show their talent when they do not have permission to do that. The only exception to Muggle obliviation were the family of, for example, a Muggle-born. The intergovernmental organisation the International Confederation of Wizards worked together to enforce the law. The wizarding world does communicate to the Muggle world when necessary. The Muggle Prime Minister was informed of the wizarding world and important events happening there by the Minister for Magic, e.g. Cornelius Fudge told the Prime Minister about the Second Wizarding War , and the escape of Sirius Black was reported in the Muggle news. A phone line was established but the news failed to report what he had done and from where he had escaped. Because of prejudice and discrimination, goblins have led rebellions in the wizarding world to fight for their cause. Economy Gringotts was an international wizarding bank that had extensive security and primarily run by goblins. Currency varied depending on the country, and in Britain and Ireland they had three kinds of coins and no decimal. There were 17 Sickles to a Galleon and 29 Knuts to a Sickle. Gringotts exchanged currency and it was a popular way for the parents of Muggle-borns to pay for school supplies. It appears a popular choice of job in the wizarding world involved working for the government. Unemployment does not appear to be too high, but they have the same social construct of rich to poor. An ancient wizarding family might be very rich and they inherit their wealth, but the Weasley family for example could not afford brand-new wands and robes. Education An education was provided for younger wizards to refine their talent and gain skills. There were at least seven wizarding schools around the world. They studied for up to seven years, and they took exams to gain a grade in their subjects. It helped them prepare for and gain jobs when they had graduated. There were many jobs in the wizarding world. They could work in Magizoology , even caring for dragons . It was popular to work in government and law, teaching, healing and at Gringotts, a wizarding bank. Technology Even though the wizarding world looked medieval, it was very advanced in terms of technology in their own, useful way. They had no need for phones when they have several forms of communication from owl post to enchanted coins, they have no need for the average cars when they could apparate, and had books that could speak to them. But wizards do tend to take an interest in cars that they enchanted to fly, and they had radios. Medicine In the wizarding world, the problems of "mundane" nature were easy to cure. For example, a broken wrist took minutes for a proficient Healer to cure. But problems of a magical nature could be a struggle. For example, a scorpion bite was no problem but the bite of the magical Venomous Tentacula was not easy to cure. But certain spells could cause permanent damage, from the Imperius Curse damaging Frank and Alice Longbottom and the Memory Charm that damaged Gildeory Lockhart could not be done. Society Even though wizardkind were once open, they made an effort to keep certain things secret from Muggle knowledge because of a fear of being taken advantage of. For example, they wanted to keep the invention of the flying broomstick a secret , and in the 15th century, a law was founded that those who played Quidditch were not able to play the game unless it was 100 miles away from a Muggle town or village by 1419. But in the 17th century, wizardkind had faced persecution and they began to fear their Muggle neighbours. They founded the International Statute of Secrecy to put their world into hiding from Muggle view. Eg. they put a town in their town and subverted their perspective using enchantments. It was not thought practical that the two worlds could ever be able to co-exist peacefully again. Studies proved that witches and wizards could only be born and not made, meaning unless they had magical blood when they were born, the talent could not be given. They had many biological advantages that enabled them to live longer, and gained that further through advanced medicine because they had spells that could heal the majority of ailments including broken bones in minutes. However, they could struggle to heal certain magical ailments. Blood status was defined in the wizarding world in five ways: pure-blood, half-blood, Muggle-born, squib and Muggle. Many in the wizarding world thought it was an order of importance, and that those pure of blood were superior. Squibs were generally shunned in the wizarding world and Muggle-borns faced prejudice not only from pure-bloods, but from a few half-bloods because they thought that they were stronger and truer, and that Muggle-borns even lacked power to the point that they were undeserving of even studying it. Their were also many other kinds of beings and beasts. They too have experienced prejudice, shunning and have fought for better rights in the wizarding world. Examples include: * The werewolves were normal human-beings, except for the short time that they had to transform. Even though they were very capable when in normal human form, they were shunned by society and finding employment when known to be a werewolf was near impossible. * The goblins were humanoid beings that suffer a few prejudices but prove to be of value to the wizarding world, often working in an economic profession. They have had their fair share of grievances towards wizardkind (they were banned from owning wands), but they co-exist peacefully in the wizarding world. * The house-elves were willing to complete any work for wizardkind but they were often taken advantage of. If their "owner" was to ever banish them, they were devastated because they wanted to work and that made them vulnerable. Later, campaigners including Hermione Granger granted them better rights and protection. Behind the scenes * The wizarding world has many of their own sayings and phrases, including: ** Mimblewimble (a name that Rubeus Hagrid called Vernon Dursley). ** Gallopin' Gorgons * It was important in the wizarding world to own a magical animal and each student was given permission to bring one to school. The popular option was an owl, but a cat was good option. Toads went out of fashion many years prior to 1991. * The wizarding world avoided pronouncing Voldemort's name for many years and instead would say "You-Know-Who". * Very few people in the wizarding world knew how James and Lily were informed You-Know-Who was looking for them and wanted to get Harry. It further wasn't widely known that they used a Secret Keeper using Dumbledore's advice, and they were betrayed by their Secret Keeper. Notes and sources Category:Miscellaneous